Hummingbird Species Discovered!

From original article
by Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 11:01am BST 15/05/2007

“ Here is an exotic bird with an exotic name – Gorgeted Puffleg – Eriocnemis isabellae, a new species of hummingbird discovered almost by accident in Colombia.

Two ornithologists Alexander Cortés-Diago and Luis Alfonso Ortega came across the bird during a survey of montane cloud forest in the Serrania del Pinche, in the south-west of the country.

“We were essentially following a hunch,” said Alexander Cortés-Diago of The Hummingbird Conservancy (Colombia) and co-discoverer of Gorgeted Puffleg.

“We had heard that a new species of plant had been discovered in the region in 1994. This discovery and the isolation of the Serrania led us to believe there could also be new species of vertebrates.”

“Though we expected to find new species of amphibians and new ranges for birds, the discovery of a new hummingbird was completely unexpected.”

The bird has an enlarged, bicoloured iridescent throat patch (hence ‘Gorgeted’) in males and white tufts above the legs which are characteristic of ‘Puffleg’ hummingbirds.

The species has been heralded by BirdLife International as one of the most significant new discoveries of recent years.

“This is an important discovery for bird conservation and further evidence of how much more there is to learn about the world’s forests, and how much we stand to lose if they are allowed to be destroyed.” said Ian Davidson, Head of BirdLife International’s Americas Programme based in Ecuador.

“Gorgeted Puffleg is a flagship species for the biodiversity of Serrania del Pinche, which must be conserved,” he added.

But already there are fears that the newly-discovered bird may be endangered….”

Positive Change via Positive NewsThis site brings together just a few of the thousands of new species discovered since the year 2000.
Hopefully, it will inspire us to see the world as a place still being explored, and give us the courage to conserve and protect the fragile, shrinking areas of habitat left on Earth...
areas which, as we see here, contain creatures we haven't even yet Imagined...